May the Lord bless you with grace, peace, and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is 23rd November 2021. We celebrate the memorial of St. Clement, I, Pope and Martyr.
We reflect on Daniel 2:31-45 and the Gospel of Luke 21:5-11.
Cheaters are everywhere. Within the family, the church, and in workplaces, we have people with their unmasked and undisclosed sides of their personalities to lie and cheat. Cheat not anyone and never get cheated by anyone. When we are taken for a ride or granted, we all feel cheated and taken advantage of by our magnanimous. Whether in a family or in religious life, we witness this phenomenon or we ourselves have become the victims of cheating.
“Do not trust in deceptive words.” (Jer. 7:4). “Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver.” (Jer.9:4). “When he needs you, he will deceive you, he will smile at you and give you hope.” (Sir. 13:6). “For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.” (Rom. 16:18). “See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.” (Col.2:8). “In later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” (1 Tim. 4:1). “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men and women who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 Jn. 1:7).
But seeing can also mean something intangible as in a vision or something beyond the tangible.
The first reading presents us with the explanation of a dream of a king by Daniel. Seeing becomes reality when we have a right meaning by those who are competent to unravel the truth hidden in a vision or a dream.
Whenever we give importance to the beauty and grandeur of the outside, we might end up being cheated. All that glitters are not gold. Let us not go by the cover of the book. There is something on the other side, especially the inside. Not all beautiful and facility filled churches are blessed. The experience of God could be felt in truth, simplicity, and purity. May God bless you to explore the unseen and less explained.